Chavik Indy Roadster

Chavik suddenly knew what he wanted to do with his ’39 Buick. It took him, he guesses, somewhere between 1000 and 1500 hours over ‘one hard year’, working early mornings and late nights and whenever else he could find a free minute around his day job. Only the 248ci engine, three-speed transmission, torque tube, rear axle, and rear knee-action shocks survived from the ’39 Buick. Chavik made the rest from scratch using whatever Googled photos of the real Shafer 8s and the recreations he could pull up on his desktop in Zlín. He bent the sheet-metal on a press brake and machined a replica of Shafer’s steering linkage from a chunk of iron bar stock. Shafer’s cars had Pontiac grilles, so Chavik fabricated a Pontiac-shaped grille for his and, to this day, sharp-eyed observers ask him if the car is a Pontiac.